BATS

TITANIC The Marionette Show

BATS FEED — Wed, 22 May 2013 03:09:32 +0000

Now that we’ve caught your attention, we can certainly promise salt water, a boat, and relationships. For the rest, you’ll have to see!

Devised using an old German fairytale, 'The Fisherman and His Wife', and the real story of the the Titanic, TITANIC: The Marionette Show reflects on contemporary culture and the ongoing human drive to go faster, higher, deeper, further than ever before. Sometimes these desires end, as the Titanic, in disaster.

The marionettes are expertly carved, painted, dressed, and hung by Norbert Hausberg. Learning his skills in Germany, Norbert has performed puppet shows with his Strings Attached Puppet Theatre here in NZ since 1984. Norbert has taken his work to festivals around the world and been influenced by puppet traditions in countries such as Japan and the Czech Republic.

Marionette plays of this kind are few and far between in New Zealand. They are not part of our daily cultural experience. In contrast Germany has over 1000 fulltime professional puppet theatres. Norbert welcomes you to a unique, magical marionette experience that so many others around the world enjoy.

German language matinee on Saturday 8th June!

Play With Words

BATS FEED — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:06:51 +0000

Five emerging playwrights present new scripts in development during a week of playreadings in the theatre. See a different, original script each night, give your feedback, and be part of the process from draft to opening night.

Tuesday 18th June - Emma Bartleby by Jon Pheloung

A fast moving adaptation of Herman Melville's classic novella, Bartleby The Scrivener. Set in a Christchurch law office, the year is 1910 and the New Zealand temperance movement is at its height. Thomas McGinty employs orphaned Emma Bartleby as the country's first female law clerk, believing her morals will elevate his practice to greater success. McGinty's other law clerks attempt to sabotage Emma's budding career, but no matter what they try, Emma proves she is more than capable of destroying any and all who stand in her path.

Wednesday 19th June - The Reading by Uther Dean

An actor reading for a part. A writer who isn't saying something. A detective chasing a killer. A psychic who could be the real deal. A woman at gunpoint. The decay all around us. All of this is connected.

Thursday 20th June - Country Music by Alex Lodge

The Rainnes women live in a forgotten old graveyard with their cat, Mordecai. They spend their days lost in thoughts - memories, wishful thinking, and avoiding nightmares. When one of them unexpectedly dies, they finally begin telling their stories aloud.

Friday 21st June - Revelations by Lori Leigh

Middle of the day. Middle of the North Island. Middle of nowhere. A family is summoned home to Feilding (winner of NZ's most beautiful town 14 times) after the matriarch receives a special message from Jesus informing her of the imminent rapture.

Saturday 22nd June - The Grass is Meaner by Eddie Campbell

A lonely roadside cafe in New Zealand. A mysterious stranger whose questions become more probing, remarks more cryptic. There's a bad snowstorm outside and this night won't end well.

Nick: An Accidental Hero

BATS FEED — Mon, 20 May 2013 06:40:53 +0000

At 27 years old Dunedin sportsman Nick Chisolm had a stroke which left him physically incapacitated. He couldn't walk, talk, or even swallow. With the help of family, friends and wild antics he didn't just survive, he thrived. And he even found love.

Nick: An Accidental Hero is an incredible true story about an ordinary man overcoming extraordinary challenges. You'll laugh, you'll cry, It's the ultimate story of friendship, triumph over adversity, and of love.

"Transportative, uncategorizable, original, uplifting, brave." - Stephen Austin (Theatreview)

"Renee Lyons' performance has a compelling emotional honesty...the play deftly avoids any sense of sentimentality and presents an inspiring tribute to the way ordinary people rise to challenges posed by extraordinary hardship." Paul Simei-Barton (The New Zealand Herald)

Karen and Her Fellow Sinners

BATS FEED — Fri, 17 May 2013 05:49:50 +0000

Musical arrangement by Tane Upjohn-Beatson

Sink into a sultry evening of smoky jazz as Karen Anslow and Her Fellow Sinners take to the BATS stage as part of the 2013 Jazz Festival on Cuba, performing some of the best bits from their jazz cabaret shows Sophisticated Sinner and 27.

The sensuality and seductiveness a la Eartha Kitt and Peggy Lee are fused together with reinvented versions of Nirvana, Janis Joplin and other infamous members of the 27 Club to create a musical celebration of love, lust and longing.

Critics have described the band as ‘incredible’ and Karen’s voice as ‘glorious’.

“…succeeds because it embraces and then recreates a bygone era, an era that championed vivacious sensuousness.” - Lumiere Reader on Sophisticated Sinner

“Not only was her stage presence captivating, but each unique song rendition was powerfully performed.” - wellingtonreviews.blogspot.co.nz on 27

Outsiders’ Guide

BATS FEED — Thu, 16 May 2013 02:14:18 +0000

EXTRA SHOW ADDED - for details and bookings see the Outsiders' Guide EXTRA SHOW listing.

NZ International Comedy Festival’s Best Newcomer 2012 Hayley Sproull is back, but this time she’s teamed up with part-time mall Santa, Chris Parker, for their new show Outsiders’ Guide.

Outsiders’ Guide is like boot camp for your life. It’s life camp. Tackling those moments in life where one feels unsure - unsure of the custom, what’s cool, what's kosher - Outsiders’ Guide lets us all laugh at the moments we don't speak of but have all experienced; those large, uncomfortable elephants in the room.

It'll make you squirm in your seat, and yell out "I. KNOW!" while being very, deeply ashamed that you do, in fact, know all too well what we're talking about.

Both astute and absurd, Outsiders’ Guide is a whirlwind guide to life – and the reasons yours doesn't work.

Part of the 2013 NZ International Comedy Festival. Join the comedy family! Sign up at www.comedyfestival.co.nz

Battle of the Bastards

BATS FEED — Wed, 15 May 2013 06:18:54 +0000

Strap on your codpiece. Complete with sword fights, eye-gouging and Elizabethan cussing, one man slashes the story of King Lear into bawdy and sublimely entertaining tragi-comedy. If you like Shakespeare you should probably go. If you don’t like Shakespeare you should definitely go.

“A polished, spellbinding performance from someone who knows how to work the crowd to perfection… refreshing brilliant fun.” Nelson Mail

"Battle of the Bastards is intelligent, raucously funny and highly recommended." Theatreview

Part of the 2013 NZ International Comedy Festival. Join the comedy family! Sign up at www.comedyfestival.co.nz

Outsiders’ Guide EXTRA SHOW

BATS FEED — Tue, 14 May 2013 02:02:33 +0000

Due to extreme popularity, we've added an extra Outsiders' Guide show to satisfy your need for tips for social success!

NZ International Comedy Festival’s Best Newcomer 2012 Hayley Sproull is back, but this time she’s teamed up with part-time mall Santa, Chris Parker, for their new show Outsiders’ Guide.

Outsiders’ Guide is like boot camp for your life. It’s life camp. Tackling those moments in life where one feels unsure - unsure of the custom, what’s cool, what's kosher - Outsiders’ Guide lets us all laugh at the moments we don't speak of but have all experienced; those large, uncomfortable elephants in the room.

It'll make you squirm in your seat, and yell out "I. KNOW!" while being very, deeply ashamed that you do, in fact, know all too well what we're talking about.

Both astute and absurd, Outsiders’ Guide is a whirlwind guide to life – and the reasons yours doesn't work.

Part of the 2013 NZ International Comedy Festival. Join the comedy family! Sign up at www.comedyfestival.co.nz

The Exercise Book Live

BATS FEED — Mon, 13 May 2013 23:22:58 +0000

BATS is partnering with the International Institute of Modern Letters to bring you three evenings of insight into the writers' workshop. Join students and graduates of the IIML as they workshop writing generated by prompts from Victoria University Press' The Exercise Book live and unrehearsed.

It'll be fun, it could get interactive, and there'll be plenty of stimulating talk about how to energise your prose, poetry, and scripts.

June 13: STARTING THE ENGINE - Poetry

Poet Helen Heath (Graft, VUP) facilitates a workshop with current MA poets Morgan Bach, Kirsten Le Harivel, Claire Orchard, and MA graduate and poet Sarah Jane Barnett (A Man Runs Into A Woman, Hue and Cry Press).

"Endings are elusive, middles are nowhere to be found, but worst of all is to begin, to begin, to begin." - Donald Barthelme

June 14: JUMPING THE TRACKS - Prose

Writer Lawrence Patchett (I Got His Blood On Me, VUP) facilitates a workshop with current MA prose writers Rachel Kerr and Matthew Bialostocki, Adam Prize 2012 winner Kerry Donovan-Brown (Lamplighter) 2012 Commonwealth Short Story Prize winner Emma Martin (Two Girls in a Boat, VUP).

"One of the great things about being a writer is the extent to which it allows us to invent ourselves. It's like being in the witness protection programme." - Paul Muldoon

June 15: BUILDING A SCRIPT - Script Writing

Award-winning script writer and satirist Dave Armstrong facilitates a workshop with MA script writers Jane Fletcher, Beanie (Maryse) Ridler, Hamish Parkinson and Jacob Beullens.

"If you have a problem with the third act, the real problem is the first act." - Billy Wilder

Class Comedians

BATS FEED — Mon, 13 May 2013 22:47:26 +0000

They all started somewhere - Billy Connolly worked an oil rig; Dawn French was a chamber maid; Dai Henwood DJ’ed weddings; Rhys Darby did a stint in the army and Bill Bailey was a crematorium organist.

Rose Matafeo (U Live) and Rhys Mathewson (Billy T Winner & 7 Days) started their awesome comedy careers in Class Comedians. Who’ll be next?

After three months of intensive training, the next generation of seriously talented young comedians are ready to be unleashed on the public. Witness them step up to the mic and wow you with their brand new skills in a hilarious fresh comedy showcase.

Part of the 2013 NZ International Comedy Festival. Join the comedy family! Sign up at www.comedyfestival.co.nz

PSA: Revolution!

BATS FEED — Mon, 13 May 2013 22:47:26 +0000

Time for another round of satire with the award nominated Public Service Announcements.

This season’s challenge? How do you make the traditionally most boring year in a political cycle, the year before an election, interesting and engaging?

The Answer: Do what any other country would do and start a war, or in this case, a revolution! And who else could lead that revolution but New Zealand’s loudest public activist, and occasional politician, Hone Harawira.

2013 is a year of change. Cabinet has been re-shuffled, the Opposition have responded, and now the challenges begin. Have Steven and John picked the right team for the job? Can Hekia fulfill her promise / a promise / any promise? Can Shearer make Labour click? Are the Greens ready to challenge for control of the Left? How many aces is Winston holding? How many politicians can the Maori Party hold? What the hell is John Banks still doing here? And why can’t anyone remember Peter Dunne?

Then to make things even more interesting, here comes a giant, angry, bespectacled, spanner in the works – Hone…the Barbarian – and he's had enough of Politicians, Politics, and just being the Lone Wolf of Maoridom. It's Hone Time – and if he has his way, not only will this revolution be televised, it will be on film, maybe even a TED talk, and will change New Zealand politics forever.

"The cast brought continual waves of laughter from the audience to make this laugh-a-minute show a great piece of political satire and very entertaining." Ewen Coleman, The Dominion Post

Written by James Nokise
Directed by Rachel Henry
Performed by The No Fefe Collective

Part of the 2013 NZ International Comedy Festival. Join the comedy family! Sign up at www.comedyfestival.co.nz